King pin and spindle arrangement for steerable wheels



March 11, 1947. FLR. MCFARLAND 2,417,315

KING PIN AND SPINDLE ARRANGEMENT FOR STEERABLE WHEELS Filed Nov. 11., 1943 2 Sheets-sheaf 1 q INVENTOR.

73/85:! )7. )7' 1" Far-1404i March 11, 1947. McFARLAND 2,417,316

TEERABLE WHEELS KING PIN AND SPINDLE ARRANGEMENT FOR Filed Nov. 11, 1943 2 sheets sheet 2 I IN V EN TOR. Fare: Z MFrlarraz Patented Mar. 11, 1947 UNITEDIjSTATES PATENT OFFICE I 2,417,316, e I KING PINAVQND SPINDLEYARRANGEMENT FOR STEERABLE WH E S, h Forest n. McFarland, Huntington'Wo'o d s; Mich, I

assignoito PackardMotor Car Company, De-

troit ltflch -a corporation'of Michigan Application November 11, 1943, Serial No. 599,917

. v3 Claims. (Cl. 280-96.2)

This invention relates to vehicles and more particularly to mechanism for mounting steering ground wheels. v j i It is the usual practice with road vehicle to mount the front steering ground wheels so that they will have both caster and camber. The angle of the king pin axis to the vertical centerline of the Wheel in the side elevation deter-v mines the caster of the wheel and the angle of the wheel carrying spindle to horizontal determines the camber of the wheel. When the extended axis of the king pin intersects the ground surface ahead of the intersection 'ofthe vertical centerline of the wheel in theside'eleva'tio'n, the

caster is positive, and when the extended axis of the king pin intersects the ground rearwardiy of the intersection of the vertical centerline of the wheel, the caster is negative. It is the usual practice to arrange the rearwardly.

It has been the general practice to provide the with positive caster so that they will trail the king pin axis thereby steering ground wheels assisting the operator in maintaining a straight steering course. Positive caster has the disadvantage during turning movement ofincreasing the torque application required due to centrifugal force acting to'maintain direct forward motion of such wheel. To overcome this disadvantage negative caster hasbeen resorted to,

resulting in increasing the camber of the outdecreasing the camber of the inside wheel and side wheel causing tire wear and squeal.

It is an object ofthis invention-to provide.

mechanism arranged to take able positivewheel caster in position; and to eliminate the more important undesirable'eflect on the turn.

advantage of desire Another object of the invention is toprovide a vehicle steering mechanism arranged to have a turning range in whichthe wheel furthest from the direction in which the vehicle is steered has a positive caster in straight ahead position and with the positive caster gradually reducing and changing to negative caster wheel for steering continues.

Another object of the invention is to provide steering mechanism for a pair of front vehicle as turning of the wheels having a mounting that will provide posking pin axis so that the, top tilts inwardly toward thefvehicle as well as Fig. 'lis a side elevation 'ed from the portion of Fig. showing the wheel turn and that willincrease the camber angle of the inside wheel.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which: 7

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a motor vehicle chassis having the invention incorporated therein; Fig. 2is a side elevational view of one of the front wheels andits mounting showing the caster an le; j

Fig, 3 is a fragmentary plan view of steering gear mechanism for turning the knuckles;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of the knuckle andwhe'el taken from Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the wheel at vtherightof Fig. 1 with lines showing caster in straight ahead position;

Fi .6 is a diagrammatic view" showing the wheel knuckle in Fig. 5 in plan view when in straight 'ahead'p'osition, when'in position for a right turn and in front elevation when in position for a right turn.

of the wheel projectin position for right turn. v

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view showing the wheel knuckle in Fig. 4 in plan view when in straight ahead position, when in position for a the straight ahead,-

tion for a right turn.

- wheel being carried by a "the side of the frame.

right turn and in front elevation when in posi Fig. '9 is a side elevation of the wheel projected from the portion of Fig. 8' showing the wheel in Fig. 4 in position for right turn.

In the drawings, reference character i0 represents the base portion or frame of a motor vehicle, the engine and driving mechanism being omitted for clarity since they'are well known in the art and may be of any desired form and arrangement. i

he invention is illustrated in connection with the forward end of a motor vehicle having a pair of steering ground wheels H and 12, each As the supporting means are similar, the same reference characters will be employed for each. A carrier member i3 extending substantially vertically has an oilset arm I4 with a portion 14'" through which king pin i5 extends. A steering knuckle is mounted to swivel relative to the arm and consistsoi a bracket i6 and a spindle IT on which a wheel is rotatably mounted. The knuckle bracket has thelei'tside of Fig. 1, a in position for straight steering;

supporting means at 1 Lface rearw m yyqg line D then caster will be noise.

are parallel and arearrangedfto ,r'riaintain the carrier member l3 in substantially vertical position during all vehicle operating conditions;

Conventional mechanism for swinging the knuckles on the king pins tosteer the ivehicle is;

arms have links 26- pivotally connected thereto.

28 connects the bell cranks. The bell cranks can be pivoted to the frame in parallel relation and conventional mechanism (not shown). can be ;at-. tached to one of the bell cranks for swinging the same 'to shift the links and the steering arms.

The kin pin l5 extends at an angle to-vertical with the, toptilted inwardly toward and rearjwar'dly of the vehicleasfindi'cated by axis line A. 'I'hefspindle'll is arranged with its axis, indicated by line P terminating at points D2, D at an angle, to horizontal and offset in advance of axis A of. the king. pin in a horizontal; plane. Thus. the axis of the wheel, which coincides with the spindletaxis P, will be ahead of the kingpin axis im a. horizontal plane; as shown inFigs. -2,

"4and 5. The vertical 'centerline of the wheel, in side elevation, is indicated byline D and, as shown in Figs. 2A and 5, .thepositio'n ofline A relative .to line D indicates the casterangle ofjthe wheel.

So long as this line A contacts the ground surface X forwardly ofthe line D caster will be positive but when line-A contacts the ground surneg'ative. A Lines .E in Fig.

position for straight steering. a a s When the wheels are turned on the king pins to steer the vehicle to the 'rightorleft whenmoving forwardly, the wheel furthest f-romtheidirection of the turn will beknown as the outside wheel turned for steering, centrifugal force tends to continue forward motion of the outside wheel in the direction of previous vehicletraveland with the wheel mounting now generally employed, the 1 camber angle of the'putside wheelis increased causing excessive tire, wear and squealing tire With-tn that mi es asdescribedPherei n,

operation of the steering gear .to make k a turn, during forward progress of :the VehlC1B,'yWi1l, cause the outside wheel to straighten up and reduce the camber: angle. resultis' ohtainedbygthe angle of; the king pin and the placement of the wheel axis in advanceof the kingpin axis causing the wheel spindle tomovejna path;whereby.the netpositive caster. effect isreducedto. zero, and then to negative caster asthe wheel isturned in its range of pivotal movement toward thedesired direction of vehlcle travel. I Referring toFig. 5, wheel lZand its supporting knuckle memberare shown in side elevation and-for straight forward steering of the vehicle. The king pin axis A; whenextendedfmeets the ground surface X. at point A while the-vertical 1; illustrate the centerlines of (the wheels in frontelevation and the angle between lines E and a vertical line determinesthe I degree of wheelcambenwhen ,thewheels aregin centerline D of the wheel meets the ro n stir? .-of .the endsfofthe spindle. The smalljend of the spindles-is lower thanthelar'ge end and thus the spindle projects downwardly from horizontal. In a horizontal plane the king pin axis extends at theflrear of thespindle axis and .K denotes a fpo nt onthe king pin axis in a horizontal plane shown in Fig. 3. The knuckle brackets "each have 1 a steering arm 25 extending, therefrom andsuch 7 l5 1 ,centerline through the wheels in front elevation, Bell cranks 21 are connected to links 25 andlink i with Referring-.toFlg; 1; letter E represents the vertical point D at the largeend of the spindle.

. soobviouslytliepositivecamber is the angle at which line Eextendsrelative to vertical.

In Fig. 6, points A and K and line'D are'pro jected from Fig. 5 to indicate the spindle and king pin positions in plan view for straight forward steering and in position turnedqto extreme right. .P? denotes thegcenterpoint of the; axis of the wheel carrying portion of thespindlewhichi coincides with thecenterline For the wheel. Y f

vFig. 7 is projected from-the knuckiein Fig. 5 turned toextreme right position andzshows wheel I 2 and its knuckle member in sideelevation when turned to extreme position for steering the *vehicle to the right'during forward :progress.--:Point K, Llines D and-A are projected from;Fig. 6,- line" D being. obtained'from the axis Eon the kingpin andline A from. point K on-jthe" king pinhaxis.

" the king pin extended axis. Thusthe caster-has becomeinegativeg In the'range of-turning1frorhf fstraight ahead-.,to,fextreme; right.- steering,' ;lthe positive caster reduces to zero during the major,

portion of the. turnin range and thereafter ;he-

comesincreasin'glynlgativ v Inriat. af s c e'f v from pointiKij'in plan view,,'atfa90 "to the spindle axisiline in the turned position.

Ground line X i'sestablishecl 905 to line C j and point/ K on line Cjis 'deteiiriesb gme distance 7 ,between point K andthe' ground linein F oll'l ine Fis' projected fromlpqint A 1 in th "viewin Fig. 6 and extends parallel swith lline' C.

The intersection of "line Then the distance between points D andi Pain =Fig.f 1 15 measured on l ne s from: the point, n v

our? 'oh'the ground-surface ;x to e'stablish'poi I and line "Eis drawnibjetween'D a P spindle axis I P will extend 'tliibizghf point line'S""and point K-on v I that the spindleaxisis substantially horizontal with the result thatthe camber s 's'ubstan zero. The spindle has 'shifted in'a"'p'atli to tilt the upper portion inwardly toward theveliicle with out 'c'hanging the dist-ancebetween thefianie I and the ground contacting portion-of the wheel.

- .When the vehicleis steered to 'the fleftiin its forward progress, wheel "I l' Will be't he outside wheel and it willbe tiltedinthesamemaniier asWheel-JZ when'tur'ning-to'theright. 3

l, ns rms:i t x provides point A and line Aextendsfthrough pmline o. rrwi i enotee not shift.

The caster range of the inside wheel is of little consequence as the vehicle front end weight is shifted mainly to the outside wheel. The camber steering knuckle for each of said carriers, means for turning the steering knuckles for steering the vehicle, each said knuckle having a king pin conand caster ranges of the inside wheel in turning to the right is illustrated in Figs. 4, 8 and 9. The

characters utilized in this illustration are the except that a front elevation is shown in place of the rear elevation in Fig. 6. The side and plan views in Figs. 4 and 8 are identical with Figs. 5

and 6. Upon turning wheel II to the inside the I same as those used in Figs. 5, 6, and Land Figs. 7

4, 8 and 9 are views similar to Figs. 5, 6, and 7,.

point D recedes from point A showing that the 4 and thus the ground contact of the wheel rela-i tive to the frame remains substantially. constant. The ground engaging portion of this wheelwill When the vehicle is turned to the left in forward progress, wheel II will be outside and wheel l2 will be inside. this instance will be the same as previously de- The action of'the wheels innection to its carrier the axis of which king pin is inclined inwardly and rearwardly, each said knuckle having a spindle offset forwardly of the king pin and having its axis at an angle to-provide camber for the vehicle wheel, the inward and rearward inclination of the king pins and the forward position and inclined arrangement of the spindles being such that positive caster is provided .when the wheels are in straight ahead position and the positive caster of the outside wheel in making a turn is changed to negative caster while the camber is decreased and the positive caster of the inside wheel in making a scribed, wheel II will act as shown in Figs. 5 to 7 and wheel l2 will act as shown in Figs. 4, Band 9.

This mounting for the wheels adds to the life of the tires and reduces the physical effort required in steering a vehicle. I g

It will be understood that various formsof the invention other than that described above may be used without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. 1 a

What is claimed is: v i

1. In a vehicle, a frame, carriers connected. for vertical motion at the sides of the frame, steering knuckles supported by the carriers, pivotal connections between the carriers and the knuckles having the top portions tilted inwardly toward and rearwardly of the frame, thewheei carrying spindle portions of the knuckles having their axes extending downwardly from horizontal and offset so that they are in advance of the pivotal connections in a horizontal plane, and steering means operable to swing the knuckles in the same direction on their pivots, the ground contact of the wheels remaining substantially the same distance from the frame in the steering turning range, the inward and rearward inclination of the king pins and forward position and inclined arrangement of the spindles being such that the camber and caster of the inside wheelincreases and the camber and caster of the outside wheel decreases as the wheels are turned from straight ahead position within the steering range. I

2. In a mounting for the steering wheels of a vehicle, wheel carriers connected to the vehicle, a

turn is increased while the camber also is in creased.

' 3. In a vehicle, a frame, carriers connected for vertical motion at the sides of the frame, steering knuckles supported by the carriers, pivotal connections between the carriers and the knuckles having the top portions tilted inwardly toward and rearwardly of the frame, the wheel carrying spindle portions of the knuckles, having their axes extending downwardly from horizontal and offset so that they are in advance of the pivotal tance from the frame in the steering turning,

range, the' said carrier-to-frameconnection insuringsubstantially unchanged caster and camher as the wheels move vertically relative to the frame, and theinward and rearward inclination of the king pins and theforward position and inclined arrangement of the spindles being such that the camber and caster of the inside wheel increases and the camber and caster of the 'outside wheel decreases as the wheels are turned in either direction from straight ahead position.

FOREST R. 'MCFARLAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references'are of record in the file of this patent:

, UNITED STATES PATENTS French (Garbe) Jan. 28, 1828 

